Beyond a Simple Bond
by Veronica The Mischievous
Summary: At first glance, the life of the gifted Portgas D. Ace seems perfect...But with an insane Grandfather and a dark, twisted secret, how does Ace cope? Sometimes you can find comfort in the weirdest places. Ace x Luffy
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece!

**WARNING**: This is a prequel to an upcoming fic called Pirate's Trove. This fic is an Ace x Luffy fic, so if you don't like this kind of pairing then don't read. And please, no flames.

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A tall, freckled eleven year old boy gave a sigh as he and his little brother walked home from school. His name was Portgas D. Ace, and if you asked anyone that knew of him they'd tell you he was a brilliant boy. He did very well in school (so much that he had been promoted to the eighth grade already), he was handsome, and through family connections could have a promising future in the military, like his grandfather.

But if you asked about his little brother, Monkey D. Luffy, you'd find your answers quite different from Ace. Luffy was a scrawny boy, but rather adorable with his cute face and simplistic nature. He never really did too well in school, not that he was really stupid, it was more like he really didn't care for what they were teaching. Many of the other children would find him weird and would constantly pick fights with him (he'd get blamed for starting the fights) and was branded a notorious trouble maker.

The brothers D. were almost exact opposites of each other, but regardless of that fact the two were very close.

"Ace…Does Gramps hate us?" Luffy asked as he followed his big brother.

"Huh…? No…he just wants us to go into the military like him…" Ace then noticed the confused look on his little brother's face. "Don't worry about it Lu…Gramps is just weird…"

"He makes you do a lot of stuff though…" Luffy pointed out.

Ace gave a small laugh. "You'll be joining me soon…"

Luffy looked a little worried. "No way!" He then stuck his tongue out at Ace.

The older boy just laughed harder. "Well just you wait…When you're older Gramps is going to make you train with me…"

Luffy then looked thoughtful for a moment. "Will he be nicer to you then?"

"Nicer?" Ace said looking a little confused.

"Will he stop making you do so much stuff?"

"Maybe…" Ace said.

"Then…I'll try to grow up fast…" Luffy said suddenly.

Ace looked at him a little surprised. "What?"

"If I grow up…Gramps won't be so mean to you…right?" Luffy asked.

Ace smiled, pulled Luffy into a playful headlock and ruffled his already messy hair. "You silly goof…"

"Hee, hee, hee!" Luffy managed to slip out of Ace's grip and ran ahead.

"Hey! Wait up Lu!" Ace chased after him.

The two raced their way back home. Ace had reached the door first and rushed inside.

"Nyah…Still faster!" he teased.

Luffy leaned against the wall and panted heavily. "No fair…"

Ace just laughed.

"Boys?" called a voice from the kitchen.

Both boys froze for a moment, it was their grandfather.

Garp then walked into the hallway. "Good to see you two finally got home…Ace, get in your work clothes, we've got training to do…"

"But I got a lot of homework tonight!" Ace protested.

"You'll have time to do it after training, now march!"

Ace grumbled and marched upstairs to his room.

-three years later…-

As the years passed Garp became harder on Ace, he kept pushing Ace to work harder at his training and his studies. These days it was obvious that it was taking it's toll on the boy.

It was raining and Luffy was on his way home from school. He still wasn't doing too well, he was just barely passing and the fights had gotten even worse. But the worst part of it all was that there was no Ace to walk with him. The rain pelted down at him hard, it was beginning to soak through his hoody sweater. It didn't matter though, he'd be home soon, although if he had a choice he'd choose the rain over home any day.

Luffy reached the house and sighed before going in. _'Please don't let Gramps and Ace be in **another **fight…'_ He then went in.

Surely enough the house was surprisingly quiet.

Luffy blinked confusedly. Odd, usually he'd be welcomed by the squabbling of gramps and Ace. Luffy sighed, it could only mean only one thing. He walked into the living room and sure enough there has Ace lying on the floor. He must have had another narcoleptic fit. Luffy crouched next to his brother and began poking him in the side.

Ace squirmed a little, he was ticklish in his sides. "….Stop it…" he groaned. He then sat up, looked at Luffy, and blinked for a moment. "Where the old fart go?"

Luffy grinned and shrugged.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Of course you wouldn't know…you don't know much of anything…"

"Hey!"

Ace then spotted an envelope Luffy's hand. "Another parent teacher conference? Luffy…"

Luffy averted his eyes from his brother.

Ace frowned. "Luffy…I know you're not really stupid! So stop acting like it!"

Luffy didn't say anything.

The two weren't so close anymore, there was so much pressure on Ace these days. Luffy, although strong, didn't quite meet their grandfather's expectations, Garp still had intensions of having both boys going into the military, but had much higher expectations for Ace than he did Luffy. Garp was always pushing Ace to do well in school and his training. It was getting to be too much for the boy, he had began arguing and talking back to Garp, and even sometimes taking out his frustrations on Luffy. It all had drove a good sized wedge between the D. brothers.

"………………I'm hungry…" Luffy said suddenly.

Ace blinked. "……Lu! You're not changing the subject! I-"

Luffy's stomach then gave a threatening growl. The younger boy then gave a look that'd rival a sad kitten.

Ace's eyebrow gave an irritated twitch. "Fine…I'll fix you something…God knows if you tried to cook you'd burn the house down…"

Soon the two were eating together.

"So what did you do this time?" Ace said, referring to the letter Luffy had.

"…There was another fight…I beat up someone bad…"

"Luffy!" Ace gave and irritated sigh. "Why don't you just walk away?"

"I did! But he followed and threw rocks at me!"

Ace was then quiet. He knew a lot of the other kids liked to pick on his little brother, because he was childish and at first glance he looked like a push over. But now it was getting a little out of hand, often enough he'd see Luffy come home with a scratch on his face or a few scrapes on his arms and legs, then there was that one day he came home with a deep cut under his left eye, the scar is still there today.

"Why don't you're teachers do anything?" Ace asked.

Luffy shrugged and continued to eat.

Suddenly they heard the door open.

"Boys? You home" It was their grandfather.

Ace frowned. "Great…just what I **don't** need…"

Garp then walked into the kitchen. "There you are, get you ready you two, you got a few miles to run, then go though the obstacle course a few times…then…" Garp continued to ramble off.

Both boys gave a groan.

-Later…-

Luffy wobbled into his room and collapsed on to the bed. He was exhausted. It wasn't long before sleep claimed him.

Later that night, Ace stormed into the house, quickly followed by a furious Garp.

"Gramps, for the last fucking time, I'm not going into the damn military!" Ace shouted.

Luffy stirred slightly from his sleep. "Hmm…? Ace…?" he said groggily. Luffy sat up, he could hear people marching up the stairs next to his room.

"Don't talk to me like that boy!" Garp yelled. "I didn't raise you to be a defiant little punk!"

"I don't care what you want! That's all you care about! Have you ever thought about what me and Luffy want!?"

"You're both children! You don't know what you want!"

Luffy blinked and carefully made his way to the door. He was a little scared, Ace had been acting weird for a while now, he had been talking back to gramps and would sometimes even snap at him if he caught him in a bad mood. Luffy was now at the door.

"You stupid old man!"

Luffy flinched slightly at his brother's shout. This was the angriest he had ever seen Ace. And even though he tried his best not to, he could feel himself begin to cry, he was scared, he was actually scared of Ace.

Hearing the sobs of his younger brother Ace looked over his shoulder and saw the crying little boy. "What's your problem!?" he snapped.

Luffy began to sob harder, he tried his hardest to stop but he couldn't, the sobs just kept forcing themselves out. "A…A…Ace…"

Ace growled slightly, stomped over, grabbed Luffy by the shoulders and pulled him in front of him. "Luffy! Stop crying!"

The poor little boy only cried harder.

Ace finally had lost all patience, he began shaking Luffy roughly. "I said stop Cryi-" He wasn't sure how it happened, but suddenly Ace felt the younger boy slip from his grasp.

Luffy's eyes went wide with confusion and fear as he fell back.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Ace winced when he heard a disgusting "**crack**!" when his brother finally came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. Ace's eyes widened with ghastly fright as he stared at Luffy's limp body.

"Ace…" Garp said quietly. "What've you done…?"

Ace suddenly found himself breathing in quick short gasps. He then let out the most blood curdling scream.

Luffy groaned as he opened his eyes, he was in a bright, white place. He could feel that he was laying on something soft and comfortable. He wanted to sit up, but he felt dazed and a little dizzy. Just then he realized something, his left arm was stiff, he couldn't really move it.

"Your arm's broken." said a voice out of nowhere, in a flat tone.

Luffy forced himself to sit up, next to his hospital bed was Ace sitting in a chair. Luffy gave a confused blink. "How did that happen?"

'Well the doctor **did** say he hit his head pretty hard…' Ace then looked away from his little brother. It actually hurt knowing that it was his fault. "…I…accidentally…pushed you down the stairs…I was fighting with Gramps and…Well…look what happened. And I know have to take anger management."

Luffy's eyes widened, it all came back to him.

Ace noticed this and braced him self for whatever Luffy might say or do.

Surprisingly, nothing came, Luffy just remained silent.

Ace bit his lip. What was going on in that kid's head? He had to be pissed, I mean come on, he broke his freaking arm for crying out loud! Any normal person would be furious!

"………………Sorry Ace…"

But then again, Luffy was **not** a **normal** person.

"Why are you sorry!?" Ace nearly shouted.

Luffy flinched a little at his brother's sudden outburst.

Ace then tried to calm down. "I…I'm the one that should be sorry…" He bit his lip again, he could feel his heart ache as he thought of what **could** have happened if they hadn't been lucky. "Luffy…I could've killed you…" Ace was near tears, the whole incident must have really disturbed him.

Luffy stared at Ace for a moment. A small smile crept upon his childish lips. "…………I don't care."

Ace looked up at him in surprise. "……W-what…?"

"You didn't mean to do it…" Luffy said simply. "And besides…I love you."

For some reason Ace felt his heart skip a beat at those words. "L-Lu…"

Luffy then tilted his head to the side, looking like a playfully curious kitten. "Ace…your face is all red…"

---

VTM: There's chapter 1, sorry if it seems a little rushed.


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter 2-

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece.

---

"Hey Ace…why are you being so nice to me now?" Luffy asked as they walked home.

Ace gave a confused blink. "What do you mean?"

"…Well you walk home with me anymore, and now you start doing it again…" Luffy explained. "And you're even carrying my bag…"

"……It's not safe to let you walk home alone right now…You said yourself that there are people that like to fight with you while you walk home, right?" Ace explained.

"Oh…so when my arm gets better you won't walk with me anymore?" Luffy sounded slightly sad.

Ace looked at him a little surprised. "Do you want me to walk with you?"

Luffy gave a wide grin. "It's nice…I like it."

Ace smiled a little. "Well then…I guess if you want I could keep doing it…"

"Hee, hee, hee!" Luffy gave another big grin.

"Hey, pipsqueak!" said a voice out of nowhere.

Not too far away was a menacing looking boy.

Luffy frowned. "Not him again…"

Ace quirked a brow. "This is the guy that's been giving you trouble?"

The boy looked a little confused when he spotted Ace. "What's this? Is that guy your boyfriend? I knew you were weird but I didn't think you were into boys…"

Luffy blushed deeply. "He's my brother! Now just go away or I'll kick your ass again!"

The boy blushed a little. "You were just lucky!" He then picked up a good sized rock. "Besides…with that broken arm, you can't really fight anyway…" The boy then threw it.

Luffy braced himself.

Thwack!

Luffy opened his eyes.

Ace had blocked it with his bag, he was now glaring at the boy. "Leave him alone…"

"Aw…your boyfriend's sticking up for you…How cute…" the boy said mockingly.

"Come on Lu…let's go…this kid's not even worth our time…" Ace then walked away, Luffy quickly following.

The boy kept throwing insult after insult at them as they walked off. But both boys ignored him.

Ace smiled a little. _'Don't worry…from now on I'll be there to help you, Luffy…'_

-2 years later…-

Crash!

Luffy was sweeping in the kitchen, but he froze when he heard the loud noise. "Oh no…they broke the door again…" Luffy slumped. He had just got it repaired by a friend.

"Stupid old fucker!"

"What did you just say to me!?"

Smash!

"And there goes the coffee table…" Luffy said as he went back to cleaning.

This was getting to be a usual thing. Garp and Ace's arguments were getting more and more out of hand.

Luffy gave a groan.

-later…-

"Wha!? Again!? But I just fixed those!"

"Sorry Usopp! Gramps and Ace had another argument…"

Usopp was about Luffy's age, but was skilled at fixing things. Whenever things around the house got broken (which was **very** often) Luffy would ask him to come over and fix it.

The two went to school together, both misfits, one a trouble maker, that other a liar.

"With what? Tanks!?" Usopp said with a sweat drop.

"Sometimes I think if they could, they would…" Luffy said flatly.

"Are they really that bad?" Usopp said with a blink.

Luffy sighed and gave a nod. "I'd laugh at them…If I wasn't the one stuck cleaning up all their messes…and doing the rest of the chores in the house…" Luffy sighed again and slumped. It just was **not** fair.

Usopp looked thought full for a minute. "Okay…But I'm going to start charging."

"EH!?" Luffy looked shocked. He didn't have any money.

"Just kidding!"

Luffy was frozen with a look like he was about to have a heart attack.

"I said I was kidding!"

Luffy then calmed down. "Please don't do that…"

"Alright…I'll come over and see what I can do…"

"Thanks Usopp, you're the best…" Luffy said with a relieved sigh.

When they got to Luffy's house everything was quiet.

"Huh, think they're out?" Usopp asked with a blink.

"Probably…" Luffy said with a confused blink. "Come on I'll show you what needs to be fixed."

It wasn't long before Usopp had the door fixed, he was soon working on the coffee table. "Hey Luffy…did you ever hear about this place called the Pirate's Trove?"

Luffy blinked and shook his head. "No…what is it?

"I heard it was a secret club of some kind…" Usopp said in a creepy tone. "No body is sure exactly where it is…"

Luffy looked like a little kid listening to a campfire story. "Really?"

"They say that there are different ways of getting there…" Usopp continued. "It's kinda like a ghost…and there's all sort of weird things that go on there…"

Just then both boys felt something clasp onto their shoulders. "Weird things happen where?" said a voice from behind.

"GYAAAAH!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Calm down you two!" It was Ace.

"Ace you jerk!" Luffy and Usopp shouted.

"Eh, heh, heh, heh, heh…so…what are you two up to?" Ace then blinked when he saw the table. "Hey…the table's fixed…"

"Yeah, Usopp did it, he's really good at fixing things…" Luffy said.

Ace studied the coffee table. "I can see that…"

Luffy then smiled. "Anyway, thanks a lot Usopp."

"No problem Luffy, but I seriously gotta consider charging…"

"Please don't…" Luffy begged.

Usopp laughed. "I was kidding! Anyway, I'll see you later…" He then headed to the front door.

"Thanks Usopp…" Luffy said relieved.

Ace laughed. "What are you so worried about?"

"Do you have any idea how much it would cost to fix all the stuff you guys break?"

Ace blinked. "No."

"Oh…well I don't know either…but it's probably a lot…"

"…Oi…I'm not that destructive…" Ace said with a slight huff.

Luffy looked at him like he was a nutcase. "Wanna bet?"

"…………………………No." Ace said in defeat. He knew Luffy had a point. Now he wanted to change the subject. "Er…so…Uh…I guess he's one of your friends from school, right?"

"My only friend in school." Luffy said simply.

Ace was quiet for a while. _'So…he's still having trouble at school…'_ He still walked home with Luffy after school, but no one tried to pick a fight with them, so he had figured that they had stopped all together. "Do you still get picked on?"

"Sometimes…" Luffy said while scratching the back of his head. "But I don't let it get to me…Probably the most annoying thing is that they all think you're my boyfriend or something…"

Ace suddenly fell over. _'What the hell!?'_

---

VTM: There's chapter 2! Again, sorry if it seems a little rushed.


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece!

---

Luffy always hated cooking, it was hard, he was no good at it, and neither Garp or Ace really ate his cooking anyway. So why was he in a pink frilly apron (that belonged to his gramps for some odd strange reason) nearly setting the house on fire? Because Garp was even worse, and Ace was out with a friend.

Luffy grumbled a little as he stirred what was supposed to be stew (but looked like some sort of strange soup). "Why do I even bother…they're not going to eat it anyway…" Looking at his own concoction Luffy then made a sickened face. "…………………**I** wouldn't even eat this…" And with that he took the pot off the stove and dumped the stew in the trash.

Just then Ace and one of his friends. "Can you believe that teacher, Shuraiya?"

Shuraiya was another student that was ahead in his classes, although he was still a little older than Ace. He had an almost purplish hair color and a tattoo on his face in the shape of a hook. "Well you don't know everything Ace…" he said with a sigh. He then laid eyes on Luffy who was now washing dishes.

"Yeah but I wasn't wrong…" Ace said with his back turned to his friend, he was rummaging for something in his back pack.

Shuraiya studied Luffy for a moment. He then walked over to him. "Hi."

"Hmm?" Luffy looked away from the dishes and blinked when he saw Shuraiya. "Oh…hi."

"My name's Shuraiya, I'm a friend of Ace's…"

Luffy smiled. "My name's Monkey D. Luffy."

"Luffy?" Shuraiya laughed a little.

Luffy frowned a little. "What? I like my name…"

"Sorry…I guess it's kinda cute…"

Luffy blushed a little.

Shuraiya laughed when he saw this.

Ace, now wondering why Shuraiya hadn't delivered his usual smart-ass comment by now looked over his shoulder. Spotting the two, he blinked. Was Luffy blushing? He couldn't help but feel a strange sort of jealousy. "Hey, Shuraiya! What are you doing?"

"Nothing…I just think you sister's kinda cute…"

Luffy dropped a pan. "S-Sister…????"

Ace clapped a hand to his face. "Shuraiya…that's my little **brother**…"

Shuraiya looked a little surprised. "Really? Wow……Even better."

Luffy now blushed even deeper. Ace's friend was now hitting on him!

"S-Shuraiya!" Ace almost whined. Shuraiya wasn't usually sociable, so why was he suddenly so friendly with **his** little brother? "Leave Lu alone!"

"Lu? Heh, heh, even cuter!" Shuraiya said with a grin.

Ace was now giving a death glare to his friend. He didn't really care much for Shuraiya's sudden friendliness, he could see it was making Luffy blush more and more, and for some reason, it was eating at him.

"What?" Shuraiya said with a blink.

"He's **my** little brother!" Ace said with a slight huff. "I don't want you flirting with him!"

Shuraiya gave a slight pouting look. "Hmph…no need to be so possessive…sheesh…"

Ace sighed. "Look, let's just hurry up and go to the Merry Go Mall…I don't want to deal with gramps…"

"Can I come too?" Luffy asked.

"Sure." Shuraiya said with a smile.

"No." Ace said flatly.

"Please Ace?" Luffy begged. "I don't want to deal with gramps either! And I'm really hungry!"

"Well why don't you just fix yourself something?" Ace asked.

"You **know** I can't cook." Luffy said flatly.

"Aw, come on Ace, it could be fun!" Shuraiya said with a smile.

Ace sighed. "I don't need you flirting with him here…"

Shuraiya grinned. "Okay, okay, I won't!"

"Okay…You can come Lu…"

-Later…-

Ace's eyebrow gave an irritated twitch. "Shuraiya…" he growled.

Shuraiya grinned as he fed Luffy a fry.

"You said you wouldn't flirt with him…"

"At home…You said nothing about the mall." Shuraiya said slyly.

Luffy couldn't help but laugh.

Ace sighed and shook his head. Why was he getting so worked up about this?

"Hey Ace, how about we get something for Lu?"

Ace's eyebrow twitched. "Who said **you** get to call him Lu?"

"He can…I don't mind…" Luffy said suddenly.

"L-Luffy!" Ace was getting a little red in the face. Why was he getting so ticked? Ace just couldn't explain it.

Shuraiya then looked thoughtful. "You know, I bet there would be some things that'd look really good on you at Hot Topic…"

"Shuraiya…Don't start…" Ace said dangerously.

"Aw, come on…I'm sure Luffy would like it!"

"Can we go?" Luffy said suddenly. "I've been wanting to see Hot Topic!"

Shuraiya looked a little surprised. "You've never been there before?"

Luffy scratched the back of his head. "I don't get out that much…" he said sheepishly.

Shuraiya grinned. "Well then you're in for a treat."

Now standing by the dressing rooms Ace gave a sigh. Shuraiya was picking out outfits and having Luffy try them on.

"Hey, looking good…" Shuraiya said with a smile. "Hey Ace, what do you think?"

Ace sighed and looked at his little brother. The outfit **did** look pretty good on him. But, there was one problem. "Uh…Lu…Those are girl's clothes…"

Luffy blushed a deep crimson, so did Shuraiya, for that matter.

"Oops…" Shuraiya said sheepishly. "Sorry Luffy…"

Still blushing from embarrassment, Luffy smiled. "Well…at least I don't look bad…"

"He's got a good point…" Shuraiya said with a grin.

"Luffy…take off that outfit…" Ace said with a sigh, even his face now had a touch of crimson.

Luffy grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Oh alright…" He then headed back to the dressing rooms.

"He did look kinda cute though…" Shuraiya said a little thoughtfully.

Ace sighed. "Cut it out Shuraiya, don't go giving Luffy any strange ideas…"

"It was an accident…I didn't realize they were really for girls…I was just looking for something that would fit him…" Shuraiya said sheepishly.

"Well fine…I won't nag on you for that…but…just stop flirting with him…" Ace said with a slight huff.

Shuraiya blinked with surprise. "Are you jealous or something?"

"No! I just…it's…uh…"

"What? You like me or something????" Shuraiya said with confusion.

"NO!" Ace said in all seriousness. "I just don't want…Lu…to…to…" He couldn't figure out how to say it without sounding like a child. "Oh forget it…Why should I care anyway…" Ace finally said with irritation.

Just then Luffy walked past with a few items and brought them to the check out desk. The guy at the register was, handsome with three earrings in one ear and the craziest green hair. Luffy blinked when he saw him.

"Oh…You're a boy…" the register guy said with a blink.

"Huh?"

"I saw you trying out clothes over there…I thought you were a girl…" the green haired man explained.

Luffy blushed. "That's been happening to me a lot lately…"

The green haired man shrugged. "Well you are kinda cute I guess…"

"Oi! Quit hitting on him!" both Shuraiya and Ace shouted at the same time.

Later as the three were returning home, Shuraiya stopped at a bus stop on the way.

"Well, this is where we say good bye for now…" Shuraiya said with a smile.

"Aw…" Luffy said with a slight pout.

Shuraiya laughed. "Well it was very nice meeting you Luffy…"

Luffy grinned. "Hee, hee, hee…I had a lot of fun…Let's do this again sometime!" Luffy then went over to Shuraiya, stood on his tip toes, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Ace could feel his heart leap up into his throat, and his face heat up as color rose into his cheeks. Why was he feeling this way?

---

VTM: And that's chapter 3...in case if you don't know who Shuraiya is, he's from One Piece Movie 4 Dead End Adventure...


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4-

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece!

VTM: XD Glad that people like this so far, sorry this took so long to update, life's been a bit hectic. (sweat drop) Anyway…Thank you reviewers!

SkylerHoshi: XD lol! Indeed! Glad you loved the Zoro bit!

Navigator101: Thank you for the suggestions! XD The music help out! Nami and Robin won't make big appearances in this fic, but they'll play a big part in it's sequel, Pirate's Trove. I do plan on making short appearances in this fic…So I'll see how I can work that out…

Some Girl101: Thank you! I'm glad you like it so far!

Foxyperv: Lol, well...this is only a prequel but there **will** be more Shuraiya naughty-ness! lol! XD

VTM: XD And now, on with the show!

---

Ever since the incidents at the Merry Go Mall Ace had been in a terrible mood. He had gotten into a real bad fight with Garp and was now lying in bed nursing his aching stomach (Garp had given him a good punch there). "Stupid fucking old geezer…" he mumbled as he curled up into a ball.

Meanwhile, down stairs Luffy was hiding just out of view of Garp, who was in the kitchen talking on the phone.

"I just can't take it anymore!" Garp shouted, slamming a fist into the counter. "He's completely out of control! Who knows what he'll do that'll wreck his future!?"

Luffy felt a bit nervous, he knew Gramps might do something drastic, and with a person like him, **drastic** meant just plain **insane**.

"I guess I'll just have to send him away for a while, you have any room at that military school you help run? Hopingly that should instill some discipline…" Garp said with a sigh. "Huh? His brother? Luffy? Nah…I'm not too worried about him…The kid's got strength and stamina, I'll give him that but he's a bit on the slow side if you know what I mean…"

Luffy gave a quiet huff. He was tired of people thinking he was stupid. Sure, he didn't care much about a lot of the things in school, but that didn't mean he was dumb.

"So do you think you have any room?" Garp asked again. Suddenly he grinned. "You do? Great!"

Luffy felt his heart jump. _'No! He can't!'_ he then quickly snuck back upstairs. He then quietly tip toed into Ace's room and over to his bed. "Ace…?"

Ace was still in a rotten mood and was pretty irritated with Luffy, so he pretended to be asleep.

"Ace…" Luffy climbed into the bed and began to gently nudge his brother.

Ace still tried to pretend he was asleep.

"Ace! Please wake up!" Luffy's voice now sounded urgent.

Ace then suddenly sat up. "What!?"

Luffy jumped a little. "G-Gramps is trying to send you away!"

Ace blinked. "Huh?"

"I heard him talking on the phone with a friend of his, he said that he wants to send you away to some school…" Luffy explained.

"Hmph…Fine by me…" Ace then laid back down and wrapped himself in his blankets and turned his back to his little brother.

"What?" Luffy said in shock. "You don't care!?"

"Hmph…not at all…" Ace said with a slight huff. "I'll be away from that bastard…and that's good enough for me…"

"B-but…I…" Luffy tried to force more words out, but nothing came.

There was silence for a while.

Then suddenly Luffy managed to get under the covers of the bed and he snuggled himself against Ace's back.

"Luffy…?" Ace said with a slight hint of surprise. He could feel his face warm up as crimson began to stain his face. It was that weird feeling again, damn.

"I don't want you to go…" Luffy said as he tried to hug him.

Ace suddenly wriggled away from him. "D-don't touch me!" he grumbled.

Luffy blinked "Why? What's wrong?"

Ace gave a small moan. "Don't ask…I don't want to talk about it…"

Luffy snuggled against him again.

"Luffy! I told you not to do that!"

"But Ace…"

"It's weird! Now stop it!" Ace said finally.

Luffy sighed and rolled over so he was facing the opposite direction.

There was a long silence between the two.

"Why are you still here?" Ace asked finally.

"…………I don't want you to go."

Ace rolled over and looked at Luffy. "……………Why?"

Luffy sighed and rolled over to face him. "You're my brother Ace…and my friend…I-"

Ace sighed and pulled Luffy into a hug.

Blushing a bit, Luffy nuzzled into him a little.

Now Ace blushed, and his heart beat quickened a little, just what was wrong with him? Giving a sigh he also took in a little of Luffy's sent, it was a nice smell, Ace held Luffy a little closer, and suddenly a narcoleptic fit kicked in.

"Ace?" Luffy said with a blink. He then could hear light snoring. Luffy couldn't help but give a small laugh.

That night the two made a silent agreement, that they'd do their best not to be separated.

In Garp's opinion, it was a miracle, Ace had suddenly started to behave, he did as he was told without giving any lip, he kept his temper in check, and he was actually sometimes even a little **nice** to him. Ah, yes, it must've been a sign of the Apocalypse.

If there was one thing Ace was thankful for it was that Luffy was actually a very good listener. He'd let Ace vent out on him, and even do things that'd help him feel better, small, silly things, but it helped none the less.

As time passed and the more time they spent together, the local punks had finally stopped calling **Ace** Luffy's **boyfriend**. Now, they moved up to calling **Luffy** Ace's **wife**. This would never fail to bring rosy tints to both boys' faces, and of coarse a major butt kicking of the offending brat would soon follow.

"Wife…can you believe that!?" Ace said with a huff.

"It's not that bad…" Luffy said.

"Huh!?" Ace blushed a bit. "You dork…Of coarse it is!"

Luffy blinked. "Why? You don't like me????"

Ace blinked. "What???? N-not like that! Lu if I liked you **that** way, that would be very bad…" His face was now a brilliant shade of red.

Luffy just gave a confused blink.

Ace sighed. "Forget it kid…let's just hurry home…"

When they got home they had caught Garp finishing a call on the phone.

"I gotta go, I'll talk to you more about it later…"

Ace raised an eyebrow at this, why was Garp being so secretive? He didn't like it one bit. "Hey old man, who were you talking to?"

Luffy in the meantime rushed upstairs to put his school stuff away.

Garp watched Luffy to make sure he was out of hearing range. This only served to make Ace uneasy about what could be possibly going through the old man's head.

"I was just talking to an old friend of mine…" Garp explained. "Apparently Luffy's grades at school aren't doing too well so I was talking with him to see if I could have Luffy put into the school where he works…"

"Y-you're sending Lu away!?" Ace was absolutely shocked. "You can't!"

"Why not? It could help the boy…"

"But…What if…what if I can get him to do better in school? I can tutor him!"

Garp raised an eyebrow and thought it over. "Well…perhaps…Okay, tell you what, if you can get Luffy's grades to improve by the end of the month then I won't send him away, got it?"

Ace nodded.

-Few days later…-

Luffy was sticking his tongue out. "Stupid history…"

"Take it like a man Luffy…" Ace said with a sigh. He didn't tell Luffy what gramps was planning, he didn't want Luffy to be too worried over it. "Okay…we're almost done, then we can move on to your math homework…"

Luffy couldn't help but wonder what had gotten into Ace, why was he doing this all of a sudden? "Ace…"

"Focus Lu…"

Luffy gave a slight frown and continued. "Why are you doing all this?"

Ace tried to ignore the question. "Lu, you have homework to do…"

"Ace!" Luffy said with a frown. "Don't shrug me off! You've been acting really weird all of a sudden…"

Ace was silent for a while. "Your grades suck." he said flatly.

"I know that! But you didn't do anything about it before…" Luffy pointed out.

Ace then sighed and began to explain. "………Gramps…wants to send you away."

Luffy's eyes went wide. "Me!? Why!?"

"Because he's Gramps…" Ace said with a sigh.

"Good point." Luffy said while scratching the back of his head.

"Look Luffy…You really need to focus on school right now…okay…" Ace stressed.

Luffy just smiled.

Ace blinked and blushed a bit. "What?"

Luffy just gave a small laugh and returned to his work.

Ace soon found that he couldn't help but smile a little as well. Darn Luffy and his too cute smiles were far too contagious.

"Oh, by the way…" Luffy began. "Shuraiya asked I he could go out with me…"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!"

---

VTM: XD Poor Ace! Well that does it for this chapter! R&R! (T-T Please…?) And please, no flames…


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